When a child enters your school, what is the promise that you will make to the child and his/her parents about the writing education that she will receive? What conditions need to be in place to ensure that promise becomes a reality?
How to Read a Unit of Study
Advice from the Creators... article View the following sample lessons to reference the unit structures:
Mini Lesson Architecture
There are four main parts to a minilesson: the connection, the teaching,the active engagement, and the link. You might turn to the first minilesson
in your grade’s first unit book and follow the headings as we discuss the different parts, turning and talking with a colleague about how your
particular minilesson goes.
Connection
In the connection, you will engage students in the teaching of the day.You might begin with a connection to previous teaching so that children
have a sense of how today’s strategy fits into their ongoing work. You might begin by saying, “Today I want to teach you...” and then name the teaching point that crystallizes the most important lesson that the minilesson aims to teach.
(An asterisk has been included in the margin next to the Teaching Point to help you locate this important information quickly and easily.)
Teaching
There are four methods for the teaching part of the minilesson: demonstration, guided practice, explanation with example, and inquiry.
Each method is explained in detail in the Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop (pp. 63–64 for the primary grades, and pp. 64–65 for the
intermediate grades), and you can choose the method that makes the most sense for the teaching point of the day and for your class of students.
Which method is represented in the minilesson you are working with? Can you imagine how the teaching might go if a different method were used?
Active Engagement
During the active engagement, students will try out the new strategy taught that day, either on their own ongoing work or on a teacher
demonstration text.
Link
And finally, the link sets up children to go off and work during independent writing time. Typically you will remind students of the larger repertoire of
strategies they have learned. That is, you will not channel all students to work on the strategy that was taught that day but rather offer them choices
for what they might accomplish, reminding them of all they have learned about this type of writing.
Architecture of Conference
The four main components of a conference are the research phase, deciding what you will teach, teaching, and the link. You might want to look through the first several Conferring and Small-Group Work sections in your grade’s first unit book—finding one that has a transcript or a conference summary, to follow along as we discuss the different parts of a conference.
Research
During the research phase, you will want to spend time understanding what the child has done and is trying to do. This is a crucial step in the
conferring process, allowing you to be responsive to the needs of the child rather than reiterating teaching that has already happened or that does not relate to the child’s current trajectory of work. A simple, “How’s it going?” can start this inquiry phase. A good conference begins with deep listening.
Decision Phase
Next, you will decide what you will teach. In this phase, you have to quickly synthesize what you have learned and identify the most important
coaching you can give this student. What is it you can teach that will make the biggest impact on this child’s growth as a writer—not on this one piece of writing, but in her writing life?
Teach
After making this decision, you will of course teach, or coach, the writer. You might start by naming an area of strength, perhaps something the child
has done—or is almost doing—that has significance to the child’s journey as a writer. Then you will describe one thing the writer can do to improve
his writing, being careful to craft a teaching point that is both clear and memorable. You will probably model the strategy for the student before
asking him to try it out, either right there on the spot, or when he goes off on his own. If the writer tries the work out as you are coaching, it allows for
you to scaffold the work, gradually releasing responsibility to the writer.
Link
And finally, in the link, you will send the child off to continue working, often repeating the teaching point and reminding her that she can continue
doing this wise work not only in this one piece of writing, but in future pieces as well.
For more on the architecture of Conferences, see pp. 72–77/78 of the Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop.
When a child enters your school, what is the promise that you will make to the child and his/her parents about the writing education that she will receive? What conditions need to be in place to ensure that promise becomes a reality?
How to Read a Unit of StudyAdvice from the Creators... article
View the following sample lessons to reference the unit structures:
Instructional Components
Workshop Lesson Structure
Mini Lesson Architecture
There are four main parts to a minilesson: the connection, the teaching,the active engagement, and the link. You might turn to the first minilesson
in your grade’s first unit book and follow the headings as we discuss the different parts, turning and talking with a colleague about how your
particular minilesson goes.
Connection
In the connection, you will engage students in the teaching of the day.You might begin with a connection to previous teaching so that children
have a sense of how today’s strategy fits into their ongoing work. You might begin by saying, “Today I want to teach you...” and then name the teaching point that crystallizes the most important lesson that the minilesson aims to teach.
(An asterisk has been included in the margin next to the Teaching Point to help you locate this important information quickly and easily.)
Teaching
There are four methods for the teaching part of the minilesson: demonstration, guided practice, explanation with example, and inquiry.
Each method is explained in detail in the Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop (pp. 63–64 for the primary grades, and pp. 64–65 for the
intermediate grades), and you can choose the method that makes the most sense for the teaching point of the day and for your class of students.
Which method is represented in the minilesson you are working with? Can you imagine how the teaching might go if a different method were used?
Active Engagement
During the active engagement, students will try out the new strategy taught that day, either on their own ongoing work or on a teacher
demonstration text.
Link
And finally, the link sets up children to go off and work during independent writing time. Typically you will remind students of the larger repertoire of
strategies they have learned. That is, you will not channel all students to work on the strategy that was taught that day but rather offer them choices
for what they might accomplish, reminding them of all they have learned about this type of writing.
Architecture of Conference
The four main components of a conference are the research phase, deciding what you will teach, teaching, and the link. You might want to look through the first several Conferring and Small-Group Work sections in your grade’s first unit book—finding one that has a transcript or a conference summary, to follow along as we discuss the different parts of a conference.
Research
During the research phase, you will want to spend time understanding what the child has done and is trying to do. This is a crucial step in the
conferring process, allowing you to be responsive to the needs of the child rather than reiterating teaching that has already happened or that does not relate to the child’s current trajectory of work. A simple, “How’s it going?” can start this inquiry phase. A good conference begins with deep listening.
Decision Phase
Next, you will decide what you will teach. In this phase, you have to quickly synthesize what you have learned and identify the most important
coaching you can give this student. What is it you can teach that will make the biggest impact on this child’s growth as a writer—not on this one piece of writing, but in her writing life?
Teach
After making this decision, you will of course teach, or coach, the writer. You might start by naming an area of strength, perhaps something the child
has done—or is almost doing—that has significance to the child’s journey as a writer. Then you will describe one thing the writer can do to improve
his writing, being careful to craft a teaching point that is both clear and memorable. You will probably model the strategy for the student before
asking him to try it out, either right there on the spot, or when he goes off on his own. If the writer tries the work out as you are coaching, it allows for
you to scaffold the work, gradually releasing responsibility to the writer.
Link
And finally, in the link, you will send the child off to continue working, often repeating the teaching point and reminding her that she can continue
doing this wise work not only in this one piece of writing, but in future pieces as well.
For more on the architecture of Conferences, see pp. 72–77/78 of the Guide to the Common Core Writing Workshop.
Elementary Writing Conference from Kristina McCalip on Vimeo.